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4% Cut In Des Moines County

The Des Moines County Board of Supervisors
The Des Moines County Board of Supervisors

Des Moines County’s proposed budget for next year requires another round of cuts.

Chairman Tom Broeker says the Board of Supervisors requested departmental budgets that covered needs but did not include frivolous spending.

He says that is what the panel received, but cuts were still needed.

The Board of Supervisors trimmed the initial departmental requests by more than $500,000.

That includes about $400,000 in the maintenance department and about $110,000 in conservation.

Broeker says that was not enough, which is why the supervisors have called for an across-the-board cut of 4%.

“The department heads and elected officials will go through there and take the money out of whatever line items they wish,” says Broeker.

The across-the-board cut would trim the proposed spending plan by $400,000.

Broeker says at this point, there are no layoffs scheduled or programs to be cut.

That could change depending on how each department head handles the four-percent.

The proposed budget calls for a slight increase in the property tax rates: three cents for urban residents and ten cents for those in rural Des Moines County.

Broeker says part of the increase is required by the state for the mental health funding

The spending plan must be certified by mid-March.

 

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.